


Empty Hoops and Empty Hearts

by thecarrotofshuutoku (merthur_at_221b)



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-27 22:26:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6302644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merthur_at_221b/pseuds/thecarrotofshuutoku
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His heart was too big for his body, and everyone knew it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Empty Hoops and Empty Hearts

They all leave at some point. They will  _ all _ leave at some point.

Teiko had taught him that. 

His so-called teammates in Teiko had rotated him among them, recycled him like a used toy- once they got past his facade, once they figured out what made him tick and who he was off the court, they got bored. 

Take away the alluring mystery of his expressionless face, and you are left with nothing.

Just a boy who wants to play basketball.

Midorima had left, Murasakibara had left, Kise had left, Akashi had left, and Aomine had left. They had all abandoned him.

According to him, at least. 

Others could easily testify to Kuroko himself being the one to leave them, disappearing after the championship match, but they don’t know.

They’ll never know the truth.

The will never know the pain of betrayal of the deepest trust. They will never know what it is like to offer yourself wholly and completely to someone for them to simply throw you away without a second thought, without an ounce of regret. 

He knew he shouldn’t have cared too much in the first place.

Caring was always a dangerous game to play, with fragile emotions and unstable mentalities. 

In Teiko, where teamwork was a thing of the past, a distant dream from better times, caring for the players on your team is an Achilles heel, abused just as easily as it is discovered. 

Kuroko had always had too big of a heart for his diminutive frame, and the pitfalls of such an affliction were mercilessly shown to him. 

Of course, the other boys had ‘cared,’ but only the barest amount- the, ‘don’t fuck this up for us’ and ‘try not to get injured’ type of caring, the prerequisite. 

Kuroko had never known how to do something only halfway. His version of care for his teammates- it was different. 

No, this is the caring that gets you on every level, that gets under your skin and in your head and makes you dizzy and clear-sighted and confused all at the same time and you just can’t stop.

It’s like a ticking time bomb, something explosive and tenuous and above all, dangerous. 

Kuroko wants his new team to be composed of the normal teamwork, with emotions and feelings and worry and pride and joy. 

He didn’t expect his new light to give him more, to fall into the same trap he did. 

That was something entirely new to him, to be cared for. To have someone worry and fret about you. To have someone you could call at 3 AM and their first reaction is to ask what’s wrong, rather than get pissed off and irritated. Someone that would be happy and proud of you even when you couldn’t see it, when you weren’t there to witness such a beautiful sight. 

And Kuroko had fallen for the light, as well. 

He got scared when he pushed his limit, he was proud when they won. He couldn’t help the leap in his heart when he saw that smile, he couldn’t help it. He felt a buzzing under his skin whenever they got close, a twitch of his fingers and a want to cloak his mind. It drove him crazy and he couldn’t get enough of it. It was addicting, it was a drug. Kuroko was an addict and Kagami was his favorite hit to satisfy the cravings. 

It boggled his mind, how he let it happen. He let the wool be pulled over his eyes, tricked him with comforting, deceiving thoughts.

“It’s because you’re his teammate.”

“You two are just as close as everyone else on the team.”

“He’s just being friendly, don’t read too much into it.”

“It’s normal for guys to be worried sick when their friends miss practice without warning, right?” 

All those thoughts and more were constantly swarming his mind whenever that idiot did something ridiculous.

He was an idiot, allowing that redhead into his heart.

He put up as many walls as he could, trying to save himself before he fell, but Kagami took them down without even knowing it. With a smile, he could breeze past all the securities that Kuroko had set up to protect himself. 

He hasn’t fallen in love before, but he has seen what it has done to people.

What it did to his parents, his former light, and the results weren’t pretty. 

All Kuroko saw was tears and anguish, because that’s the way love always ends. 

In a tear, in a break, or with a bang.

But, without failure, it is guaranteed. 

Love will end, or be the end of us.

His heart was choking whenever he saw Kagami on the court, with that glint in his eyes and that hop in his step. 

It hurt him to see him happy or sad or in pieces or on top of the world.

Everything hurt him so much, and it scared him.

It scared him that someone was able to worm their way into his heart and had found a home there so easily. 

But it had been that way for a while, unfortunately. 

It was probably after the practice game with Kise’s team and the three of them demolished the thugs bullying some guys that Kagami had had himself a permanent fixture in his heart.

Kuroko wouldn’t be able to tell you why he didn’t distance himself then, keep himself at a friendly distance.

Of course, he knew that it would hurt, and it would end.

It was impossible to remain unaware of the risky behaviour. 

There was no way to delude yourself into thinking that stolen glances and longing touches, full of words he could never bring himself to utter, were somehow safe. He knew the way he felt was dangerous, he knew that he should stop, he should pull the ride up short. Sorry, the Pain Game is over, please don’t let the door hit you on your way out the door.

But he’s young and reckless and is bound to make mistakes at some point. 

Besides, it would be beneficial to proving Akashi wrong.

To proving them all wrong

In order to be a team, you needed teamwork.

Teammates needed to care, even if only a little.

But he would be able to prove that caring was good, was necessary and  an advantage. 

If not for the purely selfish reasons (Kagami) or the prideful reasons (Akashi), then to fix his old friends.

He didn’t like it when they played without a fire in their eyes or a burning of passion in their blood.

Basketball is an empty game of balls and hoops without a love of the game. 

**Author's Note:**

> concriq is accepted!


End file.
